I am Jay and I am the “J” of the J&C Railroad. I am a
husband and a father of four. I grew up in the Midwest which influences my
vision of pieces of the layout which you will see. My father working on the
Rock Island for a portion of my life and also introduced me to model
trains. Bouncing back and forth from Ho to N to Ho I have found there are
different pluses and minuses of both of the scales. For the time I am
sticking with HO and hope that during my adventure with the layout that
space will be able to accommodate the visions that I have.

I am David the “C” of the J&C Railroad. I have grown up
all over the west coast and my interest in railroading started with Jay
pulling out a big box of older model railroad pieces, (more in “Our Start”).
After we started the HO drive I started collecting N scale pieces but
haven’t started a layout… yet. My choice of rail lines is based mainly on
what I have seen with a bit of NorCal hometown history.

Our Rail Lines:

I (Jay) run a little older lines and what are now fallen
flags. My favorite is the Rock Island. As it was the railroad my father worked
on it is also a cornerstone to some of my fondest childhood memories. I have
always shied away from the powder blue Rock, marking the time when the Rock
Island was desperately trying to keep its nose above water and have only just
recently begun adding that scheme to my rolling stock. The other line that I
run as well is the SOO Line. Unlike the rock Island where I do run from steam
through to the later diesels, the SOO I stick just to the diesels whether it is
the white with red noses or the candy apple red with white lettering both find
their way rolling down the line. I (David) have limited memories of a specific
line. My initial start, call it “hopping on the band wagon” just started with
what looks like a familiar train and I ran with it. I have Union Pacific,
Burlington Northern, BNSF, and my oddity tied to my youth; McCloud River from
Shasta County in Northern California. I can remember in the 70’s cutting
firewood and hunting near the tracks around Shasta County and hearing the trains
lumber up some hellish grades. They still run limited engines today.